Oakzanita Peak Trail

Oakzanita Peak Trail is a 5.8 mile out and back trail located near Descanso, California that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and birding and is accessible year-round.

DISTANCE

5.8 miles

ELEVATION GAIN

1118 feet

ROUTE TYPE

Out & Back

birding

hiking

nature trips

walking

views

wild flowers

no dogs

Beautiful, mostly secluded trail. Hiked Saturday of president’s weekend and only saw a handful of fellow hikers and a couple people on horses. Slow and fairly gradual incline with great views at the top!

this was an easy moderate hike. Most of the hike is on the north or northeast side of the mountain. With the sun being lower in the sky for this time of year it made for a good amount of shade on the trail in the late morning early afternoon. I hiked mid week and had the trail all to myself on the way up and only saw a handful of people on the way down. Excellent views along the way and 360 view at the top. Great hike!

The trail is beautiful, lined with walls of brush and the occasional deciduous tree. First time hiking something other than Stonewall in Cuyamaca. Slightly under three hours to get to the peak and back. Would say this is more easy than moderate, but still a great way to spend the morning!

This is a great moderate hike for a beginning hiker, out of shape hiker, or someone who wants to grab a peak but not be dead afterwards. It is a very gradual climb up that you barely feel until the last .25 mile or so when you hit a few switchbacks. Beautiful views from the summit.

We actually took the east Mesa Rd up to the turn for the peak, gorgeous meadow at the top. 6.4 miles round trip 950 gain. Great to do if you are with others, wider than a trail, watch 4 mtn bikes, horses, 1 state park truck...

Great trail- a new favorite! It wasn't steep at all, not too hot (August late afternoon), and had fantastic views. We barely noticed we were ascending a mountain until we were at the top. It's very gradual and pleasant. We also didn't run into anyone else while we were hiking. Highly recommend!

Gorgeous trail! Currently pretty buggy in the swampy areas near water source and still has swarms of flying ants at peak. Very lush and gorgeous otherwise. We were able to enjoy time at top by going to left of Peak and finding some rocks that were below the swarms. Also go early if want to beat the summer heat.

Ted G.

hiking

8 months ago

Memorial Day 2017, I hiked the trail via lower and upper Descanso Creek, crossing the creek three times at different areas of the trail! Long stretches of switchback! While at the peak signing the official Peak log and locating one geological marker, huge red ant flies were relentless. Just swarms of them made it unpleasant to enjoy rest time up at the peak! Also stumbled onto a rattlesnake crossing the trail. Other than, I really enjoyed the hike! I only ran into four hikers! Racked 6.11 RT miles and 1,213 ft. elevation gain on beautiful warm weather day!

Trail was easy to find and well marked. Overall its a moderate challenge with some loose rocks throughout certain sections. Shaded while traversing near the creek. Great views at the Pinnacle, similar to Cuyamaca Peak and Stonewall Peak. I recommend those, too. There is a registry at the top tucked between some boulders. Just under 6 miles round trip. Recorded and uploaded two tracks: Ascent & Descent

Good trail I was the only one on the trail I didn't see or encounter another person the entire way. It was kinda cold today though glad I wore I long sleeve shirt, overall a good hike easy to follow trail and good scenery